An inverter is provided. The inverter includes a DC bus having positive and negative rails and an inverter arm coupled between the positive and negative rails of the DC bus. The inverter arm includes first and second silicon carbide transistor having a current-conducting terminals connected to a central node of the inverter arm. The inverter further includes at least one silicon transistor having a third current-conducting terminal connected to the central node of the inverter arm. The inverter further includes a gate driver circuit configured to switch the first silicon carbide transistor and the second silicon carbide transistor to convert DC from said DC bus into AC, and to switch said at least one silicon transistor, when the inverter arm is subjected to a load-side short circuit current, to freewheel the load-side short circuit current.

An inverter and an inverter apparatus improves efficiency of the inverter while enabling an output voltage of the inverter to meet requirements of different devices. The inverter includes an input capacitor branch, a first bridge arm, a second bridge arm, a first inductor, a second inductor, a first capacitor, a second capacitor, and a freewheeling circuit. A first terminal of the first bridge arm is connected to a first terminal of the second bridge arm and a first terminal of the input capacitor branch. A second terminal of the first bridge arm is connected to a second terminal of the second bridge arm and a second terminal of the input capacitor branch. An intermediate node of the first bridge arm is connected to a first terminal of the second inductor. An intermediate node of the second bridge arm is connected to a first terminal of the first inductor.

Method of controlling a multi-level inverter having inputs connected to a gate drive unit controlling the inverter and an output connected to a load, the multi-level inverter capable of generating a PWM voltage signal having three or more modulation levels, the inverter powered by a voltage supply and comprising at least one neutral point (NP), the method comprising operating the multi-level inverter in a standard modulation pattern having three or more modulation levels when one or more parameters representative of neutral point stability each have a value within a first range indicative of a high neutral point stability, and operating the multi-level inverter with a two-level modulation pattern when said one or more parameters representative of neutral point stability each have a value within a second range indicative of a low neutral point stability, the first range separated from the second range by a threshold value.

Method of controlling a multi-level inverter having inputs connected to a gate drive unit controlling the inverter and an output connected to a load, the multi-level inverter capable of generating a PWM voltage signal having three or more modulation levels, the inverter powered by a voltage supply and comprising at least one neutral point (NP), the method comprising operating the multi-level inverter in a standard modulation pattern having three or more modulation levels when one or more parameters representative of neutral point stability each have a value within a first range indicative of a high neutral point stability, and operating the multi-level inverter with a two-level modulation pattern when said one or more parameters representative of neutral point stability each have a value within a second range indicative of a low neutral point stability, the first range separated from the second range by a threshold value.

The disclosure relates to an inverter including a first bridge branch with a first phase output, a second bridge branch with a second phase output, a third bridge branch with a third phase output, wherein the phase outputs of the bridge branches can each be connected to a phase conductor of a three-phase power distribution network. The inverter is configured, in a normal operating mode of the three-phase power distribution network and/or of a higher-level power supply network connected thereto, to connect the phase outputs to the relevant phase conductor and, in the event of a fault in the three-phase power distribution network and/or in the higher-level power supply network connected thereto, to disconnect the three-phase power distribution network from the higher-level power supply network via a network disconnector, to disconnect the first phase output from the first phase conductor by means of a switching unit and to connect same to a neutral conductor of the three-phase power distribution network, and to establish a neutral potential for the neutral conductor via the first bridge branch. The disclosure further relates to a method for operating an inverter of this kind.

The disclosure relates to an inverter including a first bridge branch with a first phase output, a second bridge branch with a second phase output, a third bridge branch with a third phase output, wherein the phase outputs of the bridge branches can each be connected to a phase conductor of a three-phase power distribution network. The inverter is configured, in a normal operating mode of the three-phase power distribution network and/or of a higher-level power supply network connected thereto, to connect the phase outputs to the relevant phase conductor and, in the event of a fault in the three-phase power distribution network and/or in the higher-level power supply network connected thereto, to disconnect the three-phase power distribution network from the higher-level power supply network via a network disconnector, to disconnect the first phase output from the first phase conductor by means of a switching unit and to connect same to a neutral conductor of the three-phase power distribution network, and to establish a neutral potential for the neutral conductor via the first bridge branch. The disclosure further relates to a method for operating an inverter of this kind.

A power module (2) including a molded package (4), three power terminals (6, 8, 10) protruding from a first side (40) of the molded package (4) is disclosed. The power terminals (6, 8, 10) include a positive DC terminal (6), a neutral terminal (8) and a negative terminal (10). The power module (2) includes a phase output power terminal (12) protruding from a second side (42) of the molded package (4). The power module (2) is a three-level power module including a plurality of control pins (14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36) protruding from the second side (42) of the molded package (4).

A compensator circuit for a PWM active rectifier includes a look up table containing compensating voltage values for given values of input phase current and input voltage frequency, and a low pass filter arranged to filter the input phase current to the rectifier based on a filter bandwidth determined according to the input voltage frequency. The compensator circuit arranged to receive measured input current and voltage frequency values and to output corresponding compensation voltage values from the look up table, the compensation voltages to be provided, in use, to the rectifier to adjust the switching pattern of the rectifier.

A motor control unit includes a three-phase full-bridge three-level inverter circuit and a control apparatus. The three-phase full-bridge three-level inverter circuit includes a vertical bridge circuit and a horizontal bridge circuit. A current capacity of a switching transistor in the vertical bridge circuit is greater than or equal to a maximum current of a motor. A current capacity of a switching transistor in the horizontal bridge circuit is less than the current capacity of the switching transistor in the vertical bridge circuit. The control apparatus is configured to control the switching transistor in the horizontal bridge circuit based on torque of the motor, a current output by an output terminal of the vertical bridge circuit, a temperature of the switching transistor in the horizontal bridge circuit, and a terminal voltage of the switching transistor in the horizontal bridge circuit.

A converter for an air conditioning system including a rectifier section configured to receive an AC input voltage; a voltage regulator section coupled to the rectifier section, the voltage regulator section configured to control a DC output voltage across a positive DC bus and a negative DC bus; and a controller in communication with the rectifier section and the voltage regulator section, the controller configured to control the converter such that the DC output voltage is greater than AC input voltage by an offset.